


Overreacting

by darklildevil



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alex Mercer Has Anxiety (Julie and the Phantoms), Boys Will Be Boys, Friendship, Sunset Curve (Julie and The Phantoms)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-13 19:20:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28908489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darklildevil/pseuds/darklildevil
Summary: Sometimes Alex can't even tell if he's overreacting to things any more. Some days he knows exactly where the line is, and happily dances over it.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 44





	Overreacting

**Author's Note:**

> Um. Hi. Sorry. I shouldn't be writing this... thing. No idea what it is, but it's what came out when I went to write, sooooooo... Here you go!  
> Set pre-series, I'm picturing around '94-'95. All you really need to know is Sunset Curve are alive and a unit, the awesome foursome.  
> Also, unedited because I'm not getting paid for this so why would I?  
> Enjoy :)

Alex knew that objectively, he was overreacting.

He also figured that as a teenager with wicked anxiety, buckets of self-doubt and enough social awkwardness to drown a goat; that he got a free pass for at least three years of overreacting.

To be fair, how does one gauge exactly when it goes from  _ reacting _ to  _ overreacting _ , anyway?

Reggie (the adorable fuckwit) had said the wrong thing to the wrong jock  _ again _ and Luke had attempted to fight said jock  _ again _ despite this scenario having played out three times this year  _ already _ \- and always ending with the boys in detention and Luke with a black eye.

Enough to get a pass on the overreacting, Alex figured. But it didn’t stop there.

Normally Luke mouthed off and took the hit, a small free-for-all would break out between the jocks and the band, and some teacher would separate them. Luke got an ice pack, they filed into the principal's office for a lecture, Luke would make a passionate speech about standing up against bullying (while Alex quietly envisioned getting expelled, being kicked out of home, having to live on the streets, needing to sell his body for enough money to eat, getting arrested for solicitation, and eventually ending up being cellmates with ‘Big Jim’, who would make him address him as ‘Daddy’). 

Normally after his internal freak-out, Alex would find himself with a new rap sheet of detentions and be sent off on his merry way. But this time, everything was wrong.

Instead of an ice pack for a black eye, Luke had blood dripping everywhere down his front, screaming about his nose being broken and asking everybody he could see if it would affect his singing. Reggie was under the nearest table, guarding everybody’s bags (a self-appointed task, obviously). Alex had been standing on the sidelines, jumping into the brawl (six kids shoving each other) as he always did to support his boys, when it all turned to shit. Somebody’s elbow had met the side of Bobby’s head as he was grabbing the back of Luke’s shirt, trying to pull him away.

Bobby had dropped like a sack of potatoes, his head bouncing off the linoleum floor when it landed. The sudden release of his shirt had propelled Luke  _ into _ the punch aimed for him, resulting in the bloody nose. Alex was knelt next to Bobby, trying to control his own breathing and checking to see if Bobby even  _ was _ breathing, at the same time.

So sure, yelling at everybody to back the fuck off because they’d killed Bobby  _ might _ have been an overreaction. But then again… He had the right. He had every fucking right, because Bobby wasn’t meant to get hurt, and Luke wasn’t meant to bleed, and Reggie wasn’t meant to come out from under the table until the teachers made him. But there he was, right beside Alex bundling his flannel shirt up to place under Bobby’s head. 

Things were a little hazy from there, Alex finding it hard to remember exactly how it went down. But there were teachers, and the school nurse. Then the paramedics, and Bobby being pushed away on one of the medical carts (just like he saw on TV). Luke arguing with the medics, blood all down his face and shirt, looking like a horror movie extra. Reggie walking Alex outside, one arm wrapped around him. Being loaded into an ambulance, realising that the whole band was there.

The relief when he saw Bobby was sitting up and talking.

That was about when everything went black for Alex.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“-have to let us in, you don’t get it-”

“-needs us, to know we’re okay-”

“-just fuck off, he’s family-”

Three familiar voices woke Alex with a jolt, his eyes immediately protesting the  _ white _ everything surrounding him. It didn’t take much to place it as some sort of medical room- it was white and had that unique smell of chemicals that made you think of clean and death at the same time. The desk, bookshelf of medical journals and posters on the wall about regular check-ups led him to believe he was in some doctor's examination room slash office.

A deep voice was telling his boys to go away and sit down, that it was family only allowed to enter the room. Listening to Luke attempt to charm the guy (sounding like he had a cold?) made Alex grin. Nothing ever stopped Luke for long, no never meant no to that guy. (But not like, in a bad way. Just in a determined, headstrong way. Not a rapey way.)

Alex sat up, shaking his head. It was always muddled after he… passed out? That seemed the most likely explanation. Thinking back as best he could, snippets of the afternoon came to him.

Reggie stirring up shit with the jocks (Alex knew it was on purpose, as much as the others thought it was innocent. There was no way Reg didn’t know what he was doing. And the little shit loved it).

Luke with blood all down his face (That explained the stuffy nose).

Bobby in the ambulance, sitting up and talk-

Bobby! Bobby had been knocked out- he could’ve been killed, or stuck in a coma. 

He could have some sort of trauma from the head knock, he could get a blood clot and die, or hemorrhage or he could be handicapped for the rest of his life, some part of his body no longer working. 

What if his legs no longer moved? His arms! What if he couldn’t talk?

Sitting up in a hurry, Alex hopped down from the examination table and strode to the door, trying to push it open a few times before realising it worked better if he pulled. Whatever.

Once he defeated the door, Alex stepped out to see his three bandmates all looking pissed, arguing with a guy in scrubs. When they saw him, they all shouted his name and tried to get closer despite scrubs holding his arms out in an attempt to stop them. 

Bugger that. Alex ducked under the outstretched (and quite nicely defined) bicep, barreling into his boys.

Arms were everywhere, elbows in sides and most of them couldn't breathe that well, but it was good, it was right. Sunset Curve were okay, they were all here.

Alex pulled his head up from Reggie's shoulder, ignoring Luke's complaint when his nose got jostled against Alex's back in the process. He turned to the left, zeroing in on the band's baby who was cuddled between Reggie and Luke, both with a limb we wrapped around him.

"Bobby, dude! Are you okay? What did the doctor say? Do you have a concussion?"

The young guitarist smiled gently up at Alex, reassuring. 

"I'm fine man, takes more than one little knock to keep me down."

Something in Alex's shoulders released, a pressure he hadn't been aware of. Knowing Bobby was okay was like winning the lottery- the relief and elation were the same. 

They were having another band  cuddle  huddle when a voice interrupted, reminding them that they were in the middle of the hospital, probably annoying a lot of people.

Not that that really bothered them anyway, but they liked to pretend to be well behaved young men.

"You need to be examined Mr. Mercer, you shouldn't be around so much stimulation so soon after an episode."

Alex stepped back, red flushing his cheeks. Scrubs had disappeared, but a doctor was standing there now- frowning at them. 

"Sorry Sir, but I can assure you I'm fine. I just got overwhelmed seeing them all hurt, so once I saw Bobby was okay, I guess my body just said that was enough."

The doctor- receding grey hair and growing pot-belly matching the lack of interest on his face. This guy had given up caring, Alex could tell from a mile away.

"Whatever kid. I've gotta check you anyway, so let's do that, huh?"

Alex grinned at the boys so they would know he was fine, not stressing at all, before he obediently followed the guy back into the room he'd woken up in.

He knew how to play this guy, he was fine. Bobby was okay, and so were Luke and Reggie.

They were fine.


End file.
